Tomorrow, President Obama will address the Arab world in what has been dubbed as the “Cairo 2.0” speech. The question though is:
Is anybody listening?
Obama is suffering from what I term as “a great tweet does not a product fix” syndrome. Cairo 1.0 was enticingly seductive. A young, charismatic president promised an Arab world desperate for change that, this time, things would be different. They loved him, even related to him. Whether they believed him or not was unclear but they were willing to give him a chance.
Since then, both Obama and the Arab world have grown up a little. Obama’s gotten a little more realistic and the Arab world’s taken charge of their own affairs with mixed results. So, tomorrow, he will face a very different audience than he did before. Not only have they realized that they may not need him but they trust him even less than before.
So, what can Obama say this time?
Like any company that has failed a constituent’s trust, the best path is to tell the truth with speed and clarity. Then, follow through. Obama has to be willing to clearly outline what America’s position on issues are. You can’t espouse freedom and support repressive regimes. You can’t promise to move forward on the Israeli-Palestinian and be unable to bring the parties to the table.
If Obama wants a do-over, he set realistic expectations. After that, he can go about exceeding them.
